In The Ashes
by Ztarlight
Summary: A morning walk in the city permanately changes the way Zim looks at human society...


(...As you all know by now, this past Tuesday, America was the target of an unprecendeted terrorist bombing. I have read and reviewed to many  
fanfics posted under various categories around here on Fanfiction.net, and today, I was hit with inspiration. So here I am, posting my own account  
of the horrific day, which many have dubbed as the "9-1-1" incident. Any reviews would be greatly appreciated. Flames will be laughed at and then  
used to heat my coffee pot. Those who are waiting for me to post chapter 6 of "So We Meet Again", will be able to read it either today or tommorow.  
I can't say as of right now. There have been so many surprises recently I can't really guarantee anything, but I will try. If I'm going out of character in  
this, big deal. Zim and friends don't belong to me. Thank you for taking the time to read and review this. - Ztarlight)  
  
  
  
  
In The Ashes  
  
It was an unusually sunny Tuesday morning, and Zim decided to skip skool. Zim took his time walking down the city streets, wanting to simply relax  
before the big morning rush.  
  
Unknown to Zim, Gir had decided to follow Zim through the city to look for adventure. Gir had been getting bored around the house watching T.V.   
whie eating the same flavor of cupcakes. "There must be more to the cupcake life than vanilla with chocolate frosting," he had declered that morning.  
So, in a big haste, Gir zipped on his green puppy suit and followed Zim out the door.  
  
squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak  
  
Zim stopped abruptly and turned around. (Oh, no. He didn't...) Zim's thoughts were cut off by Gir jumping in his arms. sigh (He did.) "Gir, what are  
you doing here?!"  
  
Gir put on hie best puppy eyes and looked at Zim. "Don't be angry, Master. I just want to go cupcake hunting."  
  
Zim groaned and looked at his watch. 8:35 A.M. "It is way too early for this..."  
  
The young Irken continued his morning commute, looking for a place where he could possibly uncover a weakness of Earth. "So...many...tall...and I  
mean TALL buildings...I wonder how anyone could tell them apart...?"  
  
Suddenly Gir started jumping up and down and without any warning, charged forward to crash into the window of a bakery. "This one! This one!"  
  
Zim rolled his eyes and pryed Gir off the window. "This one what?"  
  
"This one is the one where they have the multi-flavored cupcakes!!" Gir cried, waving his arms frantically.  
  
Zim shuddered. "I don't know what you see in those...human...cupcake...thingies, but...if you like them that much, I guess I can get you a couple."  
  
"YAY!!" Gir charged through the doors and began to wreak havoc, pouncing on every package of goods he saw.  
  
Zim slapped his forehead. "I said a couple, not the whole store!!" He was about to run in after Gir when an ear-splitting rumble echoed through the  
air. Then there was a shadow overhead. Zim looked up to see an airliner fly above him. "What kind of moron would fly a Voot runner of that size so   
close to the buildings?!" Then he watched in great horror as the plane flew into the upper levels of a skyscraper.  
  
It was 8:45 A.M.  
  
People around him began to panic and scream. Overhearing the conversations of the passer-bys, he reached a conclusion that the North World  
Trade Center Tower had been hit with a hijacked plane. Curious, he summoned Gir, and began to head in the direction of the crash.  
  
"But Master, I want my cupcakes!!"  
  
"Not now, Gir." Zim gained a better grip on his squirming puppy. "I need to gather more information on this plane...thing. Perhaps then I can see a  
bit more on what makes this planet work...and how to conquer it!"  
  
But that's not all that Zim would see.  
  
It was quite a walk from the bakery to Ground Zero, as Zim had to fight his way through a heavy throng of civilians. By the time he had reached a more  
desireable destination, another roar could be heard booming down from the sky. The entire mob froze. Zim looked up and screamed at seeing yet  
another low-flying plane, this one even lower then the first. "Oh, no!! It's gonna crash, too!!" he cried.  
  
Alas, at 9:03 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, the World Trade Center South Tower had also been the target of a suicide plane mission. Zim watched  
the scene, feeling sicker and sicker by the second. The scene replayed in his mind.  
  
The plane as it slammed into the building...  
  
The explosions...  
  
The screams from around him...  
  
Zim dropped to his knees, he felt so weakened by the sight. "Oh, my God..." he whipered. (The fire, the violence...is this the same scene I used to  
marvel over? The scene I used to dream of? I am not humored at all by this...horror. Oh, the horror...Instead I feel sick inside, but...why? Ah! These  
human emotions must be rubbing off on me! Yet...even I would never do...THIS...)  
  
Shaking the thoughts from his head, Zim grabbed Gir and and into an alley where he wouldn't be seen. There he activated his spider-legs and began  
to climb to the roof by means of hopping from wall-to-wall. Upon the safety of the roof, Zim could get a better view of what actually happened.  
  
Gir overlooked the area with a look of true fear on his face. "Master...those buildings just went 'kaboom'..."  
  
"Yes, Gir...they did."  
  
"And...there were people inside those buildings, weren't there, Master?"  
  
"...yes, Gir..."  
  
"Were there lots of people, Master?"  
  
Zim said nothing in response to this, but instead picked up his Sir and held him reassuringly. Gir began to calm down.  
  
This, unfortunately, did not last long.  
  
They had been standing ther awhile, locked in an embrace of reassurance. Zim couldn't really pinpoint why he acting this way, but he realized how  
sensitive Gir was to things like this. (Besides,) Zim thought, (no sense in having him cry.)  
  
Their moment of serenity had been halted by the sound of more screaming below them. They both looked up to see one of the Towers falling. The  
people on the ground started to flee in a state of panic from the billowing cloud of dust.  
  
"OH, MY ****ING GOD!"  
  
"There it goes!!"  
  
"Look OUT!"  
  
"RUN!!!!!"  
  
Sensing terrible danger, Zim once again activated hie spider-legs and began lunging from roof-top to roof-top in a desperate attempt to escape  
the debris rising from behind him. He didn't care if anyone saw him. He just had ot get out of there alive. A piece of the debris hit him in the leg, but   
he knew he had to keep going, in spite of the pain. There was no way he was going to die right now.  
  
He had hopped a good twenty blocks or so when Zim stopped to catch his breath a little. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the other tower   
falling in the distance. Sighing deeply, he continued on until at long last, he had reached his home.  
  
Zim hobbled to the front door and went inside, collapsing on the couch. Blood continued to gush out of the back of his right leg. After tending to his  
wound properly, Zim carefully eased himself down next to Gir, who was intently watching the news, a solemn look on his face.  
  
"...We know that the World Trade Centers Twin Towers were hit by hijacked planes and collapsed, but we also have word that the Pentagon was hit  
with another possibly hijacked plane at 9:32 this morning..."  
  
Zim shut it out of his mind. He left to go down to his laboratory, taking a last-second glance at Gir from over his shoulder. The tiny blue android was  
sitting on the floor, silently weeping.  
  
Zim sighed sadly and proceded downstairs. (It isn't fair,) he thought. (Gir shouldn't have had to seen that.)   
  
By this time, Zim had arrived at his lab. Wordlessly, he strode to his computer and stared at the keys silently for a long time. Then after a long period  
of thought, he reached his hands out and began to type.  
  
  
/September 11th, 2001/  
/13:45 EST/  
/Dear log,/  
/Today I witnessed what the humans have been calling "an act of terrorism". I am not entirely sure of what this means, but it seems to have to do with/  
/the destruction of several American "landmarks" :The World Trade Center Towers, and something called the Pentagon. The humans are extremely/  
/upset with the incidents, as there people in the buildings at the time of the attack, possibly people they knew./  
  
  
He paused briefly to think, and then, with a look of sadness, continued:  
  
  
/...what bothers ME in particular is that the bombings were done by humans. One of their own kind. It's stunning to me, as the Irkens would never do/  
/that to each other. Sure, we shoot each other with lasers once in a while, but to kill.../  
  
  
Zim shuddered with terror.  
  
  
/Gir is especially sensitive to the attack. He can sense when there is a great tragedy...he doesn't need to see one to know...But today he saw one./   
/All he wanted was some of his beloved..."cupcakes", and instead he was forced to watch the slaughter of innocent lives. Normally, I wouldn't care/  
/at all for those human stinkbeasts, but...I wanted to see them enslaved, not...murdered.../  
  
  
Zim typed that last word slowly, all the while listening to the sound of the T.V. from above him.  
  
  
/I just heard an interesting quote. "It was not an attack on New York. It was not an attack on Washington. It was an attack on America". A rather powerful/  
/dictation if I do say so myself...and I do. But if it was an attack on America, and EVERYONE is affected, then it means, so I believe.../  
  
  
Zim bowed his head in a moment of silence before typing in the last of his log,  
  
  
/We're all victims./  
  



End file.
